How is the hobby for you?

[nabokovfan87]

Hey all,

I'm mostly just asking for the sake of curiosity, but sometimes it's good to get an idea of how things are going.  We all have our challenges and our accomplishments and it would be cool to sit down and really just have an open conversation about things.

How is the hobby going for you?  How do you feel about the hobby?  How are your tanks doing?

[Jennifer V]

Great questions! They're helping kind of gauge where I am right now, two and a half years since I set up my first tank.

I'm in a bit of a funk about my tanks and what I'm doing right versus wrong, although I think the idea of doing things "wrong" might be too harsh of a criticism.

I feel like my 10g pea puffer tank and my 5g snail/shrimp tank are both having issues. 

I just lost my very first fish ever, a female pea, and I'm not sure why. Could be old age because I've had her and her tankmates since the beginning of my journey. She just suddenly stopped eating and was gone the next day. It broke my heart! The remaining three peas just hang out on their own rather than together and have suddenly become picky eaters so I constantly worry about losing the others. I know some pea purists would suggest getting a bigger tank and adding more peas, but I'm not sure that's the way to go for me personally. They're such complex fish and I adore them but I may go with easier fish to care for in my next tank. Is that wrong? Am I being lazy? I'm not sure. Open to feedback. 

The snails in my 5g aren't reproducing as quickly as I need to feed the peas all of the sudden. I suspect the shrimp are outcompeting the snails for food, but the tank is prone to parameter shifts, so I'm reluctant to start feeding much more than I am, although I think with more WCs and testing, I can proceed with caution. Open to feedback about the best way to tackle this issue as well. 

Now, the good news, I recently left a job that gave me zero time to focus on my tanks, so now I have more time to attend to them and interact with you lovely people here. As you know, I decided to rescape the 5g and impulse purchased a 20L to start planning. Yippee! I also purchased some new shrimp food, which is very exciting for me for some reason. Sometimes it's the little things! And really started to dig in to attacking the algae in the puffer tank, although I think most of it looks pretty. 

Overall, the hobby makes me so happy and I'm very thankful I've created more work-life balance so I can enjoy them again. And I appreciate you for guiding me back into the hobby in a way that makes me feel prepared and excited for the future. 🐡🌱

Edited June 17, 2023 by Jennifer V

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/17/2023 at 6:04 AM, Jennifer V said:

Overall, the hobby makes me so happy and I'm very thankful I've created more work-life balance so I can enjoy them again. And I appreciate you for guiding me back into the hobby in a way that makes me feel prepared and excited for the future. 🐡🌱

That's beautiful! It's the little things, as you mentioned, and having the tanks as an outlet creatively for me has been such a good tool for me. Be it emotionally or mentally, having that place to go and focus a bit, breathe a bit, just to be in this room and in this box and in the moment.... It's a good value activity for me.  It's like a hike through the woods in some ways for me or that moment having a bit of a snack on the beach watching them crash and thinking about sharks and life.

On 6/17/2023 at 6:04 AM, Jennifer V said:

They're such complex fish and I adore them but I may go with easier fish to care for in my next tank. Is that wrong? Am I being lazy? I'm not sure. Open to feedback. 

Maybe it's something where someone locally has space and the care practices to hell ensure yours are doing well? I wouldn't force a bigger tank or a certain species without a strong dedicated energy to do so. The hobby is filled with interesting life and there's so much more to experience that may help with care of some puffers in the future. There are so many things I've learned just by trying to step out of the norm of "I have a tank, I like barbs, let's get some barbs".  Heck... I don't even have any barbs right now!

On 6/17/2023 at 6:04 AM, Jennifer V said:

I suspect the shrimp are outcompeting the snails for food, but the tank is prone to parameter shifts, so I'm reluctant to start feeding much more than I am, although I think with more WCs and testing, I can proceed with caution. Open to feedback about the best way to tackle this issue as well. 

Make a thread and we'll have to dive into that with full parameters and so on. Not having enough snails.... It's one of those, wait 5 minutes and another 100 showed up type of things. The nice thing is you can feed frozen for now if you need to.

On 6/17/2023 at 6:04 AM, Jennifer V said:

I'm in a bit of a funk about my tanks and what I'm doing right versus wrong, although I think the idea of doing things "wrong" might be too harsh of a criticism.

This is a wonderful thought. It's something that reminded me of a post I made 2-3 days ago while watching a video and reflecting on my algae issues. (Link to that in my signature now)

 

Which brings me to where I am at now..... How things are going. *Coffee first*

[nabokovfan87]

This week I've spent a bit of time, well the past few months really, moving tanks around.  One of my big concerns with setup after we moved has always been floor and tank stability, physically speaking.  The real challenge is that whatever the heck was done to this house prior to my being able to see the space has been very detrimental to things being flat and or stable.  I could link the holmes episode where he had to replace an entire floor support system.... that's what parts feel like.  All the tanks are on the flattest part of the house (vinyl flooring) and are shimmed in such a way where they should be flat and they should be ok.  In the deepest recesses of my mind, that is always a concern, especially given where I live and things that can happen with tectonic movements.

I have a curtain rod all ready to go which I need to get some blackout curtains for.  That will hopefully help to regulate light, but especially heat!  There's no access to water easily, so everything I do in the fish tanks is manually with buckets and that isn't a bad thing at all.  It is demotivating at times, but there is the other aspects, exercise, that are beneficial.  I am working to manage methods, efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness a lot more this time.  Something like a dosing pump would be a wonderful tool for me to feel like I am not missing things.  There's just many things going on day to day and it's the scenario of trying to keep it straight.  It's not easy for me to do something like feed the shrimp every other day because each day feels like a week of events sometimes.  But, trying to schedule things for particular days of week has been a little bit more effective for me.  I have specific days for cleaning the tanks and I am working on keeping that schedule.  I am also being very particular about what work I am signing myself up for because there really are only so many hours in the day.  Switching from a weekly to a bi-weekly schedule for certain maintenance things has caused issues trying to just recall how much I need to do.  I've got dry erase markers for writing on the tanks, notepads, and I just need to complete that loop.

I am slowly succeeding with plants again.  That statement isn't a light one and it's something where I feel a sense of doing certain things correctly.  I absolutely do know that I need to be a bit better about certain things, but I am learning.  That feels good.  I am working on fixing issues, but I need to follow through and test my water more often.  Honestly, I've lot confidence in testing.  I've lost the energy to do it because I have lost the sense that the results I am seeing have any sort of accuracy and relevant data.  I am using strips to test for nitrates and nitrites ONLY.  I am using a GH and KH test kit when I need to.... and I need to more often than I would like.  I have a phosphate test kit that is particularly useful checking for certain things, but only really required once in a while.  My main day to day challenge is my CO2 system. 

I absolutely know that I am not dosing in enough CO2.  I know that I am dosing enough to encourage growth, but not enough to the point where I am seeing the results in PH or drop checker testing.  Yet again we have to back to those errors in my PH testing tools right now.  This past week I had to sit and observe one major issue and I think it's down to the amount of surface movement.  I don't have enough, which means that the water cannot cycle through gasses enough to absorb enough CO2.  Hopefully that makes sense!  I am running the new setup with a little bit more effective placement of the spraybar to move CO2 and I just need to monitor how the diffuser itself is operating.  I have a setup now where I can essentially remove the need for a diffuser and plug it directly into the spraybar, but I don't really know if that is a good idea or not.

Like always, I am still learning some things.

The fish are doing good.   I have the first good spawn of black corydoras to a good size and I need to get them to trigger a big spawn for me.  Plants arriving within a few hours for the sake of that project as well, which has me insanely excited to see progress and growth (plant growth).  I have had a gut feeling, a hunch about what texture and scenario the corydoras want when it comes to laying some eggs and I cannot wait to test that theory out.  It will be great to see more plants in the big tank and I'm excited to see something to trim that isn't just moss and S.Repens. 😂 Two of my tanks will have their own needs when it comes to plants, but the 29G I just got going will particularly be dedicated to a single plant.  I hope I can grow it in buckets full and use it for many many things with my shrimp and corydoras.  Now I just need to find those bricks that Mark uses.

In terms of fish, I am always waiting for more of them to show up.  I have the space, I have the setups, and I can't even get the swordtails to drop fry for me.  It's very likely a dietary thing and I just need to inject in a bit more frozen and protein based foods.  Any day now I should have some fry and it will be exciting to have them.  Changing out the setup for the CO2 has the added benefit of helping the fish in the tank to have a much calmer spot to basque and relax.  I will be great for them to have a section of the tank that is dramatically different in terms of water movement than what they have had the past 2-3 months.  This isn't a means to say they were struggling, but it is something where I wake up and just watch their behavior.  I want to see how they are interacting with the tank and the surroundings.  That's the enjoyment for me right now.  Whether it's the shrimp, the swords, the corydoras, or just hanging out to watch Grace, Luigi, and Riddick, I really enjoy those moments when I get to interact with them. It's a refreshing conversation so to speak.

[Tanked]

On 6/17/2023 at 3:12 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

How is the hobby going for you?  How do you feel about the hobby?  How are your tanks doing?

How do you feel about the hobby?  

I feel the hobby has something for almost everyone, be it a goldfish bowl or a "fish room".  As I have said many times, it is as complicated as you choose to make it.

How is the hobby going for you?

I keep things simple, because I want a hobby, not a second job. I also want to be able to go away for a few days and not have to worry about the aquariums. I have been keeping fish for decades.  As an adult fish keeper, almost all have all lived into or beyond their life expectancy.  Five years ago I decided to try keeping aquatic plants again. I'd never been able to do this as a younger person.  I still find it frustrating.

How are my tanks doing?

Did I mention frustrating?  I think I have all of the pieces, but haven't quite figured out how to assemble them.  It would seem that more effort creates poorer results.  I have a self imposed limit of four tanks.  Each is different, has a very simple setup, and from the plant perspective, the one receiving the least amount of effort produces the best result.

My project tank has an LED flashlight for 16 hours, pest snails, an occasional shot of Easy Green, and nothing else. Its primary purpose has become trying to save plants that are failing in the 29 gallon planted community.  Wisteria and PSO from here has been successfully transplanted into the 75 gallon TFB tank. If I could get the TFBs to share their space with the Silver Dollars, I could remove the SDs form the 65 gallon community, grow plants, and encourage the Angel Fish to spawn. The only thing growing well in the 65 is Pothos and Diatom Algae on the glass.  Both tanks require a fence to separate the fish from the plants.

 

[andieb]

I definitely see a bit of my experience in each of these posts so far.

I started keeping fish during the pandemic when my life felt slow and quiet. I was 25, experiencing the freedom of being out on my own with a little disposable income for the first time ever. I had fish-keeping projects on the go, plans for future tanks, inspiration, and so much passion. I used to sit in front of the tanks for long stretches, watching my fish, and googling any and every aquarium-related question that came to mind. 

Now I'm 28 and these days it feels like every year, month, day is shorter than the last. These days, my life feels fast and demanding. More often than not, my tanks can feel like a chore rather than a hobby. I remind myself that fish keeping is supposed to be fun and rewarding. If it doesn't feel that way anymore, then it's ok to opt out. As a result, I've simplified, decommissioned, and downsized, with plans to downsize some more. 

But then there are times, like today, where I've just got done spilling fish poo water on the carpet, stubbing my toes on the corner of the tank stand, sloshing water down my front, picking dried duck weed out of my arm hair, and at the end of it all, I grumpily sit down in front of a clean tank. The honey gouramis stair at me expectantly, the corys seem to have a little jump in their step from the water change, and I notice that my annubias, one of the very first plants I ever bought, is growing another new leaf. By demanding my time and attention, the tanks remind me to pause, and they give me time to watch these funny little creatures and to think about the fact that it's up to me to take time to remember the things that I love. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

On 6/17/2023 at 12:12 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

How is the hobby going for you?  How do you feel about the hobby?  How are your tanks doing?

How is the hobby going for me? Well I’ve had a lot of breakdowns in my systems over the last calendar year. At this time last year I was taking things down, selling things off and figuring out how to move a 20 tank fish room 8 hours by car.
 

Now I am still decommissioning tanks - still have a 29 g, 60 g to go - but there’s a need to setup a tank - a Sulawesi breeding project - as well as a QT tank for some fish that will be going in my 45 g. 
 

The resurrection of the 60 g and the The Not So Sad Bowl has really been lovely. I have berried shrimp and beautiful animals and plants. This is why we do it! 
 

How do I feel about the hobby? Humbled. Grateful. Proud. Occasionally sad. Envious. Challenged. 
 

How are my tanks doing? My sons tanks are always a little more ramshackle than I’d like but their animals are healthy and happy, parameters are outstanding. I’m proud of how well I built them. My 2 displays I’m very please with. They’re the right balance between high and low-tech. My Not So Sad Bowl needs some work. I’ve got some plants coming and maybe a plan. The Sulawesi Tank is starting to look like a really smart build. I’m really excited and not in an unrealistic way. More to come which is exciting! Have fun everyone!!

[Root]

How is the hobby going for you?

Overall it is going well. Where I am at we don’t have fish meetups or swaps, but I have a couple of friends who have gotten into the hobby recently and we have been trading fish and plants. It has been fun.

How do you feel about the hobby?

The last couple of months I was going through the motions. I was maintaining the tanks, watering changing, and so forth, but it was feeling robotic. I changed a couple things up in my main display and I have been really excited about it here lately. Guess it was a change of scenery lol. 

How are your tanks doing?
About 6 months ago, I applied too much glue to a couple of Anubias Hostafolia. They stayed the same size and the only growth I noticed was them rebuilding the roots that I messed up. The other day I came home from work and sat at the aquarium to unpack my mind. I noticed two leaves starting to form! I must say I am pretty pumped up because I thought I had killed them. The fish and invertebrates are happy and breeding too. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/18/2023 at 10:07 PM, Root said:

The other day I came home from work and sat at the aquarium to unpack my mind. I noticed two leaves starting to form! I must say I am pretty pumped up because I thought I had killed them.

That's wonderful! Congratulations. I am yet to try that species, but I am looking forward to it when I can get my hands on it.

[TheMosster]

I technically am still  in the hobby. I have 1tank with a bunch (way too many) of albino cories. However, i do maintainance, but dont get the same experience of just staring into the tank for a while. But im trying things like FD tubifex to get me excited again. Im hoping with new projects, and interacting with other hobbyists ill be able to regain some of my fishkeeping love.

cories eating tubifex worms^

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Lately a few struggles with invert illness, but I'm on the right track.  This sounds cheesy, but when I make a [dumb and not aesthetically pleasing pvc] cave for a fish, and the fish loves the cave and uses it like 50x a day, or I give some food (like a shrimp lolly) to the shrimps and they just go crazy over it, that brings me such joy.  Making different snello recipes for the snails.  Adding new plants and then observing new behaviors and mating dances from fish..  Those are the opportunities to make a difference for them, the moments where the hobby is just so awesome for me.

 

[Stef]

I’m on a roller coaster for sure. My patio pond project has taken off after a cold spring start and chlorine leaching issue. It’s all resolved now and really enjoying it. Didn’t think I’d fall so hard in love for my comets, they’re awesome. Just wish I could see them better in the big black tub that covered on floating plants. Good problem to have 😁

 

Then the spiral downward dealing with a young betta with dropsy symptoms. Grateful for the knowledge learned here on how to treat. Fingers crossed. 
 

Then another upward shift with a first time clutch of mystery snail eggs I’m anxiously awaiting. 
 

[DaniV]

I've been learning a lot since I started roughly 8 months ago.  Some good, some bad, definitely some frustrations, but ultimately I'm still very much enjoying this hobby.

Best of all, my mom and dad are enjoying this as well.  Even though these are all my tanks and fish, the three of us have learned so much.  When I saw my first batch of fry in my 20 gallon tank, mom and I were so excited to see baby fish.  Dad told me to check the filter, there were a bunch that had gotten sucked up and still alive.  That night, the three of us were binging Youtube videos on fry for over an hour.  These babies have been a real treasure for us!

But by far the most frustrating aspect that I'm still struggling with is keeping plants.  Some have thrived very well, while others have struggled, even the ones that everyone says grow like crazy and are beginner friendly.  It's strange.  I can keep java ferns no problem, but most anubias plants I've tried have rotted away.  I've gone through a few tiger lotuses, but my 1 dwarf aquarium lily thrives like crazy.  I have tried to keep pogostemon stellatus octopus multiple times, and each time they just shrivel up on me instead of growing out as people say they do.

So yeah, overall I love my water babies and I anticipate more years to come!

[BuzzDaddy21]

Not worth a rat's butt.

Something happened to my 10L  Fzone, lost its prime for some reason at 1am. I did clean the pump the next day and it was very gunky with that brown gunk and yes, the pump was warm, but the outflow SS elbow was really hot plus the hose also. (I need to test the pump and I hope its ok.)

Maybe a new 15L Fzone is needed.

I did have another canister filter that holds a lot of media, something like a fluval that I got going and it's working just fine. (I took down my other 2 fluvals just got tired of cleaning them so often.)

Also took down 2 - 20T and 2 - 40B and will set up the 40B later don`t have time right now because fishing season is on.

Mama always said it's one thing or another.

Hope everyone has a great summer.

 

 

 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/20/2023 at 7:52 AM, DaniV said:

Best of all, my mom and dad are enjoying this as well.  Even though these are all my tanks and fish, the three of us have learned so much. 

That's wonderful! It brings new meaning to the "community tank" term and it's so rewarding to see others enjoy your efforts.

20 hours ago, BuzzDaddy21 said:

Mama always said it's one thing or another.

Very sorry for your struggles. If there's anything we can do to help, hopefully we can sort things out or get you in the right direction!

[Lennie]

Challenging! And fun.

As you know, I'm trying lots of new fish I haven't tried before. Not only fish, but also new plants, woods, substrate, snails or even a paludarium!!

And having breeding projects for them all! Setting up the new fishroom. Tiring but amazing 🙂 Slowly but surely getting where I want to be.

 

also, I really appreciate the friendship of you guys; @nabokovfan87, @Guppysnail & @Chick-In-Of-TheSea. Honorable mention is @Odd Duck for sure. All of this is much more fun with you guys. I'm happy that this hobby brought you all to my life ♥

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Lennie

[nabokovfan87]

If only there was some way for us to follow along and read a journal of some kind with all the new happenings in your fish tanks..... 🤔

@Lennie

Seriously though, yes.... it's a great place for me as well, it has been extremely helpful to find people who can teach me all of the things and take better care of my fish and plants!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

5 minutes ago, nabokovfan87 said:

If only there was some way for us to follow along and read a journal of some kind with all the new happenings in your fish tanks..... 🤔

There must be a journal somewhere, I’m just having trouble finding it for some reason.

Photos from @Lennie’s new crab paludarium. Click the sad emoji if you are sad @Lennie didn’t  make a journal.

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Lennie]

4 minutes ago, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

There must be a journal somewhere, I’m just having trouble finding it for some reason.

Photos from @Lennie’s new crab paludarium. Click the sad emoji if you are sad @Lennie didn’t  make a journal.

 

 

How dare you share them

 

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

1 minute ago, Lennie said:

 

How dare you share them

 

 

But they are so adorable

[PineSong]

I have been caring for my current tanks for around two years and I’m pretty happy with where I’m at in the hobby….even though I have two hospice tanks and I’ve had to put my breeding and selling on hold due to the resulting lack of space.
 

Due to shortage of tank space,  I’m not breeding anything in my pond this summer. My only female swordtail has turned male so it looks like no more swordtails in my future. 


I am on the fence about adding another and larger tank to better house my angelfish. Posts and bad dreams about tanks leaking make me afraid of larger tanks. The angel can move to the 29 when my guppy fry are grown, but that feels like a short term solution since I do use that tank to grow fry.

I do still sit and stare into my tanks every day. I love seeing how my mutt guppies are shaping up and I love feeding all of the little beggars.  I hope next summer can be a pond breeding summer for me once again. 

 

 

[Lennie]

18 minutes ago, PineSong said:

I have been caring for my current tanks for around two years and I’m pretty happy with where I’m at in the hobby….even though I have two hospice tanks and I’ve had to put my breeding and selling on hold due to the resulting lack of space.
 

Due to shortage of tank space,  I’m not breeding anything in my pond this summer. My only female swordtail has turned male so it looks like no more swordtails in my future. 


I am on the fence about adding another and larger tank to better house my angelfish. Posts and bad dreams about tanks leaking make me afraid of larger tanks. The angel can move to the 29 when my guppy fry are grown, but that feels like a short term solution since I do use that tank to grow fry.

I do still sit and stare into my tanks every day. I love seeing how my mutt guppies are shaping up and I love feeding all of the little beggars.  I hope next summer can be a pond breeding summer for me once again. 

 

 

that's a vwey cute gentleman. But where is the "sword-tail" 

 

I loved the red plant. What is it called?

[PineSong]

56 minutes ago, Lennie said:

that's a vwey cute gentleman. But where is the "sword-tail" 

 

I loved the red plant. What is it called?

In my experience when swordtails convert from looking female to male, the development of the gonopodium happens first and the sword will develop next. That’s how they accomplish stealth impregnation of females while the breeder thinks the tank is all girls. 
 

The red plant is a variety of celosia. I’ve never had one so bright before!

[Dork Fish]

@Lennie What kind of crab is that?

[Lennie]

1 minute ago, Dork Fish said:

@Lennie What kind of crab is that?

Yellow witcher vampirecrab